I am pleased to announce that Dr. Robert R. Archibald, President
and CEO of the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis, Missouri, will be our Spring
Commencement speaker and will receive the honorary degree, Doctor of History. Dr.
Archibald is an NMU alumnus, having received his bachelor's degree in history
and economics in 1970 and his master's degree in history in 1972. The
recommendation is in the Formals, D-3.

President-elect Dr. Leslie Wong and his wife Phyllis visited
NMU last week to meet with individuals and groups on and off the campus. They
plan to return to campus in May for another visit and will move to Marquette in
late June.

I am proud to advise you that Marquette County is one of
three Michigan communities, and 30 nationwide, to receive the "America's
Most Livable Communities" Award which is granted only once every 10
years. The award honors communities that have been innovative in economic
growth and improving quality of life, making the communities among the nation's
top destinations for travel, business development, lifelong learning and
living.

Governor Granholm visited Northern recently to have a
conversation with NMU students on how to create "cool cities" in
Michigan – keeping young college-educated workers in the State. She talked
with our students about what they are looking for in their communities and
facilitated a discussion between an audience of about 175 people and a panel of
10 pre-selected community representatives with a range of skills and expertise
who participated in a recent Cool Cities forum. Similar summit meetings were
held at Grand Valley State University and Wayne State University.

One note of interest from Public Safety and Police
Services: The Police Academy will start on May 3rd. We have the largest
class ever, 55 students @ 12 credit hours each. Over 800 hours of
training, (seventeen weeks) will lead to eligibility for state certification as
a police officer. Students are from Michigan, Wisconsin and Washington
State. We are ecstatic! But it's going to be an extremely hectic
summer schedule.

I was recently notified by Northern Initiatives President
Dennis West, that the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship has named Northern
Initiatives as their Entrepreneurial Organization of the month.
Congratulations to everyone at Northern Initiatives on receiving this
recognition.

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS NEWS

Congratulations to Dr. Austin Hummell, Assistant Professor
of English, who has won the Del Sol Poetry Prize for his new book
"Poppy." His work was selected from over 400 manuscripts to receive
this prestigious award. "Poppy" will be published by Del Sol Press
in Boston this spring.

Congratulations also to NMU Business Professionals of
American student members who competed at the State Leadership Conference
recently. The group collected 16 awards, including 9 first-place finishes, and
qualified to compete at the National Conference in Cincinnati. We wish them
the best of luck.

The Military Science Department projects that it will
commission 9, potentially 10 Officers this year which is the most commissioned
since 1993. The Department projects it will commission potentially 11 Officers
next year.

The Nursing Department had 96 applicants for the 40 spots in
our nursing program. Our nursing graduates currently have the highest pass
rate on the NCLEX exam in the state (for both LPN and RN grads). Faculty
searches in Nursing seem to be going well and we are receiving applications
from some well qualified applicants.

A recent site visit for NAACLS Program Standards for Cytogenetics
and Diagnostic Molecular Scientist, our Molecular Biology Track, was held on
campus. We had a very successful site visit. They had praise for our
resources, faculty, equipment, key courses, the administrative support and Mayo
Clinic. Because we had such a clean report, we will be eligible for 7
years the next time our accreditation is due for renewal.

The Department of Communication Disorders' Speech, Language
and Hearing Clinic is planning for it's summer clinic program to run from May
10 through July 23. This is made possible by a combination of university
support and a $15,000 grant from the Scottish-Rite which the department has
received for many years. The summer clinic program meets the needs of
adults and children with communication disorders throughout Marquette County
and the Upper Peninsula.

The HPER-Organization of Outdoor Recreation Professionals
(OORP), a student organization, organized and hosted the Student Outdoor
Educators Conference, April 2-4, in the PEIF. Over 90 students were
registered, with students coming from Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
The author of A Walk Across America, Peter Jenkins was the banquet
speaker.

Dr. Linda L. Zupan, Professor of Criminal Justice, has been
invited by Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa, to assist
in the development of curriculum for the University’s new criminal justice
program. The creation of this new program at Tshwane University reflects
broader changes occurring in South African higher education where many
institutions are undergoing significant restructuring and transformation. Tshwane
University, which opened January, 2004, resulted from a merger between three
institutions—Technikon Northern Gauteng, Technikon North-West, and Pretoria
Technikon. Currently, Tshwane University offers undergraduate and graduate
qualifications, including a doctoral degree, in law enforcement. University
administrators are hoping to develop a broader based criminal justice
curriculum that would include education in corrections.

Two Sociology faculty members continue their work with
non-traditional groups: Prof. Michael Loukinen is expanding his
documentary work on traditional culture of the Lac Vu Desert band of Upper
Peninsula Ojibwa; Dr. Renxin Yang is continuing her work in mainland China,
investigating the impact of economic reform on women.

Highlights from Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreational
Sports for 2003-2004:

▪ Pilates
Fitness Program averaged 49 participants/class – very popular

▪ Intramurals
– 20% increase in number of teams from last year

▪ Group
Fitness is at an all time high with an average of 18/class (7/class in previous
years)

Last month, WNMU-TV received first place in the Special
Interest category of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters (MAB) annual
station competition for its production of “An Evening with the Governor”.
This program aired last fall on our station when the Governor took her bad news
budget program on the road. In the most recent issue of NMU’s Horizon on
page 14, Mary Dettloff makes a point of describing the difference between
WNMU’s ability to produce the program and downstate stations producing the same
program for their areas.

WNMU-TV’s production “Lumberjack Life: UP Days of Yore” took
second place in the News Special category competition sponsored by the Michigan
Association of Broadcasters and is the same DVD Board members received at their
last meeting. This program – in addition to being our #1 fundraising show
last December - has since aired state-wide on all Michigan Public Television
programs.

Faculty
and students from Northern Michigan University presented at the 2004 convention
of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters. In
the Language and Literature section of the convention, NMU English faculty and
graduate assistants helped to organize a new area, Native American
Perspectives, and presented their work on Native American education, language,
literature and health. Instructor Shirley Brozzo, Pofessor Melissa Hearn, and
graduate assistants Grace Chaillier, Jamie Kuehnl and Leann Miller took part in
this. Other English faculty and graduate assistants presented in the Rhetoric
and Composition section of the convention. They were: Pofessor Bill Knox,
adjunct instructor Heidi Stevenson, and graduate assistants Erin Celello and
Rick Hunter. NMU also had several participants in the Psychology section of
the convention. Professors Sheila Burns and Charles Leith, along with students
Julie Anderla, David Brunning, Amanda Cross, Josh Dobias, Lacy Gregg, Diana
Hudson, Brian Peterson and Mike Simpson, presented on mental and manual
rotation and the Mueller-Lyer illusion.

FINANCE AND
ADMINISTRATION NEWS

Update on Construction/Renovation Projects on Campus:

1. Student
Services Center: Departmental Office areas to be completed in late
July. Move departments in August. Reynolds Recital Hall to be
completed in October.

2. Thomas
Fine Arts: PHASE I to be completed in July. Move departments in
August. PHASE II renovation of Band/Choral Rooms to start in June with
completion in September.

3. New
Art & Design Building: Completion to be in October. Move
departments in immediately upon completion.

Through a reorganization, we are combining the operations of
Athletics and Recreational Facilities and Services into the Department of
Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreational Sports. Also, we will replace the
title "Sports Training Centers" with "United States Olympic
Education Center."

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A copy of the President's
Activity Report is in the front pocket of your Boardbooks.